September 24th

Taking Flight

Light peeked its way through the bedroom window. Alex groaned slightly and rolled over. According to his watch, it was only 5:30. In his opinion, way too early, but he needed to get going before there was too much traffic on the roads. He sat up and pulled his shirt on, then his jeans. Alex didn't want to leave, but he had no choice. There was a manhunt for him going on. Slowly, he stood up from the floor, and carefully, as not to disturb Emily, walked over to her desk. He ripped a piece of paper out from one of her many notebooks and started to write a note.

Emily-

Thank you so much for the hospitality, it means a lot to me. For future reference, you probably shouldn't let just anyone stay in your house, even if that someone has "nice abs". I regret having to leave so soon, but it's probably for the best. You don't want to be tangled up in this mess I'm caught up in. If anyone asks, I was never here. You can't tell ANYONE about me. Not your best friend, not the police, not your parents. I never existed. Thank you again for your generosity and sassiness. Hopefully one day I can come back to visit you. But for now, this is goodbye.

Regretfully yours,

Alex.

Alex signed the note and left it on top of the desk, where she was sure to find it. He was sad to just leave Emily, after all she had done for him, but if he involved her in his problems any more she could probably go to jail too. Reluctantly, Alex slipped on his boots and pulled on his jacket. He took one last glance at Emily, still asleep, and then, just as mysteriously he had come, he was gone.

He pedaled slowly at first, regretting leaving Emily behind. Maybe he could take her, he thought, but quickly dismissed the thought. She hardly even knew him! Alex munched on a granola bar, which seemed to be his breakfast of choice, as he rode towards the airport. Slowly, the airport materialized on the horizon and continued to get bigger as he got closer. Freedom.

There it was, his ticket out of here. Alex pedaled his bike to the airport fence and leaned it against the chain-links. He wouldn't be needing that. Before he went to the checkpoint, Alex loaded his pistol and shoved it into the waistband of his jeans. Hopefully he wouldn't need to use that. He walked up the road a ways to the security checkpoint for the small hangar. "State your name and why you are here," the burly security guard asked in a dull tone. "Stanley Dunlop, and I'm meeting a friend." Alex tried not to look nervous. "Okay," the guard responded, jotting something down and opening the big metal gate. Alex stepped inside and walked towards the hangar office. Hopefully some pilot would be flying out of the country, preferably to Mexico. He opened the metal door and walked over to the desk.

"Hello, my friend is flying out of the country today and I was wondering where his hangar was so I could say goodbye to him," Alex lied to the receptionist.

"Okay, let me see...we have a flight leaving for Mexico today in Hangar 12, although you might want to hurry because he is scheduled to take off in about 10 minutes," the receptionist replied helpfully.

"Thanks! Which way is Hangar 12 again?" Alex asked sweetly.

"Out the door, to your left. Have a nice day!" she directed him.

"Thanks again!" Alex left the office and headed over to hangar 12. He could feel the cold metal of the gun against his back. When he arrived at number 12, the door was open and the plane was idling. Alex snuck over to the passenger side of the plane and opened the cockpit door, pulling out his gun as he did so. "What even-" the pilot stuttered as he glanced at the unwelcome guest.

"If you keep quiet, no one gets hurt," Alex said, pointing the pistol at the frightened man. "When you are scheduled to take off to Mexico, we will go. You will not indicate that anything is wrong or send a distress signal. I know what they are, my friend is a pilot. Any false move, I will not hesitate to shoot. You understand? I just want a flight to Mexico." The pilot gulped and nodded his head. "Good."

The pilot continued with his pre-flight checks. Soon they were on the tarmac and preparing for takeoff. Alex was overjoyed. Once he crossed into Mexico, he could lay low for a while, wait until the case turned cold, and then slip back across the border undetected.

Takeoff went without a hitch. Soon they were in the air and flying towards freedom. Alex could feel the pilot's unease. He wanted to reach out and reassure the man, but then he realized that could backfire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex was just starting to relax when several warning lights and bells started to go off. "What did you do?" He half-asked, half-yelled at the pilot.

"Engine burnout! We're going to have to crash land!" The pilot shouted back. "I should be able to land s-" He was cut off as the plane started spiraling down faster. Alex braced himself as he looked over at the pilot frantically trying to regain control. "We have to land at the nearest airport, before this ends in a terrible crash! Let me send a mayday call!" The pilot shouted, clearly afraid. Alex debated whether he should let him.

"Where are we now?" He asked, straining to be heard over the alarm bells.

"Over Arizona," the pilot shouted back.

Alex nodded at the pilot to send mayday and request to land. He squeezed his eyes shut as the plane lurched again. Getaway wasn't as easy as he thought.